Reclining chair



1941. WININGER RECLININGCHAIR Filed Oct. 30, 1940 /N vs/v oR: LEONARD M/lN/NGEI? I A "ORNEY Patented Dec. 16, 1941 UNI-TED STATES PATENT OFFICE RECLINING CHAIR Leonard Wininger, Cleveland Heights, Ohio Applicatio October so, 1940, Serial No. 363,467

3 Claims.

This invention relates to furniture and particularlyto lounge chairs of the type in which both the seat and back may be tilted.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a device which permits a conventional chair to be reclined by the occupant and which automatically resumes its normal position when unoccupied.

A further object is to provide a relatively simple device which may easily be mounted on a conventional chair frame and which is inexpensive to manufacture and assemble.

Still another object is to provide a device of the type mentioned which is ordinarily not visible and which permits a reclining chair to have the appearance of a conventional non-reclining chair.

These and other objects and features of the invention will become apparent from a study of the following description and claims together with the accompanying drawing in which like parts are designated by like reference characters and wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a reclining chair embodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view of a reclining chair frame taken along the lines 2-2 of the Figure 1;v

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional View of the device taken along the lines 33 of the Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a right side view of the device taken along the lines 4-4 of the Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a left side view of the same device taken along the lines 5-5 of the Figure 3; and

Figure 6 is a vertical sectional view taken along 7 the lines 6-43 of the Figure 4.

Referring to the drawing, there is shown a conventional chair having a seat frame In, which frame has two parallel side rails H, a front rail l2, and a rear rail l3, connected together to form a rectangular structure. At the junctures of the side rails H and the front rail l2, there is mounted two legs M. The side rails II have on their inner surface small recesses indicated by the character l5, which provide for a portion of the articulator devices hereinafter described in detail.

The rear legs for the seat frame are arched support members 20 which have depending spaced front and rear feet which are indicated in the drawing by the characters 2| and 22 respectively. The feet 2| and 22 are in longitudinal alignment with the front legs I4. The top portions of the arched support members 20 are provided with recesses 23 which facilitate the mounting of the articulators hereinafter described. The support members are shaped somewhat in the fashion shown in the Figure 1; that is, the front leg 2| extends slightly forward of the vertical center of the chair, and the rear leg 22 extends to the rear, so that when the chair is reclined, the support member 20 still provides a suitable base without causing the chair to be dangerously tipped.

Each support member 20 is pivoted to the side rails II on the seat frame In and connected thereto by means of the articulators 30 in the manner shown in the Figure 2. The lower portion of the articulator member, referred to and designated herein as the hinge member 3|, is firmly mounted on the arched portion of the support member 20 by means of the screws 36. The hinge portion 3| extends substantially horizontally there-across and is provided with projecting brackets 33, which brackets rest in the recesses 23 of the support members.

The top portion of the articulator, referred to and designated herein as the hinge member 32, is similarly mounted on the side rails II by means of the screws 36a. This hinge member 32 also is provided with an extending bracket 34 which is in vertical alignment with the lower bracket 33. Supported between these two brackets is the compression spring 31 which tends to keep the hinge members 3| and 32 in the normal or parallel posit1on. In order to prevent the hinge members from opening too far, the top hinge member 32 is provided with a block means 38, which is simply an extension piece or lug which contacts the lower hinge member 3 I. The two hinge members 3| and 32 are pivotally connected together by the horizontal pivot pin 35, a portion of which extends into the recess l5 of the rail l as heretofore referred to.

The support members 20 and the articulators 30 are mounted on the seat frame, I0 so that the pivot pins 35 are approximately midway between the laterally extending rails l2 and I3. The exact position depends upon the weight of the chair and the particular construction of it. In practice it has been found that the location of the articulators 30 should be such that the comp-ression spring 31 tends to keep the legs l4 firmly to the floor, and so that when the occupant desires to recline the chair, his movement is resisted by the spring 31.

It will now be clear that there is Provided by this invention a reclining chair which accomplishes the objects of the invention. While the invention has been disclosed in its preferred form it is to be understood that the embodiment of the invention as described and illustrated herein is not to be considered in a limited sense as there are many other forms or modifications of the invention which are also considered to be within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A reclining chair, including a seat frame having side rails, and a support, an articulator composed of a lower member of substantially inverted T form having a side face of the horizontal portion thereof formed for securement to a side face of the support, a bracket member extending laterally from the inner face of an end of the horizontal portion of said member, an upper member of substantially T form having a side face of the horizontal portion thereof formed for securement to a side face of one of the side rails, the legs of the T members overlapping, means to pivotally connect the legs, a bracket extending laterally from the inner face of an end of the horizontal portion of the upper member and being substantially vertically alined with the first named bracket, said brackets being spaced and having spring retaining portions, a compression spring interposed between the brackets and secured at its ends to said spring retaining portions, and a stop member carried by the opposite end of the horizontal portion of one of the said T-shaped members and extending toward and engageable with the horizontal portion of the other T-shaped member.

2. A reclining chair in accordance with claim 1, wherein the support is formed with a recess and wherein the bracket member of the lower T-shaped member that is secured to the support is received in the said recess.

3. A reclining chair in accordance with claim 1, wherein the stop member is integral with and oiTset from said horizontal portion of said one T-shaped member and has a free end engageable with the inner edge of the said opposite end of the horizontal portion of the other T-shaped member.

LEONARD WININGER. 

